Lucky
by LagunaMojo
Summary: AU - Kakashi and Anko share their daily bus ride home under the rain. Oneshot. Slow build. More friendship than romance.


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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It was an ordinary summer day in the city of Konoha. It was a quiet city. The streets were only occupied by public utility buses and a handful of privately owned cars. A scarce amount of people can be seen walking from their homes to the nearby shops that filled the sidewalks. Shops like the flower shop that the Yamanakas ran and a small bookstore the Hyuugas owned. The sun was showing signs of setting, which means that it was near quitting time for Kakashi.

Kakashi worked as a senior detective for the local police. Not that he had any work to be done; the city never had any big cases to give the force. It was always just something about missing pets or teenage runaways. They'd take the case and solve it before the end of the day. The city boasted a low crime rate; it only had a few small time robberies every year. It didn't bother Kakashi at all, he liked the peace, and or rather the small amount of work he had to get done. He'd mostly just spend his work hours reclined behind his desk, with the latest print of the local newspaper reading the Make-Out Paradise column. He takes a few swigs of coffee every now and then before continuing his work which was mostly calling local animal shelters to check if they caught any collared animals around the roads.

Today wasn't any different; he timed in, sat behind his desk, and read his column. He took a quick look at the clock and seeing that he only had a few minutes left in his shift, he proceeded to pack up. As he was doing so, he hears a tap on his office door.

"Mr. Hatake, sir, the chief would like a word with you before you left," said a soft spoken voice that was greeted with a sigh of disappointment.

"Tell me," Kakashi replied with his back facing the door, feigning business, "You didn't sign up as an intern here to become the chief's personal courier did you?"

"No, sir," the voice answered, accompanied with a nervous chuckle.

"You joined the force to be…?" the silver haired man asked as he turned around to face the pale skinned intern.

"A forensic artist, sir," the young man responded with a smile.

"Well then," Kakashi said as he slung his bag over his shoulder, "I hope you like drawing lost cats." Kakashi walked past his subordinate and headed straight to the exit.

"Uhmm! Kakashi, sir!" the intern pleaded, being careful not to raise his voice too much.

"Huh?" Kakashi blurted out as he turned his head to catch the boy out the corner of his eye.

"The chief's office is that way," he gestured down the hallway away from the front door.

Kakashi once again let out a sigh. "Thanks, Sai," he said as he dragged his feet toward the hallway.

"You're welcome, sir," Sai shot him a smile, "And good luck in there."

Kakashi's been summoned a myriad of times this month, ranging from issues regarding the office pantry's **clean as you go** policy that he repeatedly violated by absentmindedly leaving his used coffee mug on the sink to more serious issues regarding his punctuality or lack of. None of those really bothered him. What bothered him, as he looked over the empty cubicles on his way to the chief's office, were the local government's budget cuts on the police force. The mayor reduced the police budget a month ago after seeing that, quite frankly, there wasn't any need for it. Since then the chief already laid off half the force and showed no signs of stopping.

Kakashi scratched the side of his mask as he stopped at the chief's door. Squinting to try to see past the smoked glass he hears a stern voice from the other side, "I don't have all day Hatake. Whatever you're doing, stop it and get in here already."

He pulled the collar of his shirt as he turned the doorknob. He stepped in the room to see a middle aged blonde woman hunched over her desk, running numbers through her calculator. _"I'm guessing she still is having problems with the budget,"_ Kakashi thought to himself.

"You called me Tsunade-sama?" Kakashi inquired, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yes I did, I wanted to talk to you about the recent budget cuts we had," she withdraws from her work and looks up to him.

"Had? Or have? Because if I'm not mistaken you fired three patrol officers along with two junior detectives this morning."

"Had. Those were the last firings for now. Now all I need to work out are the new salaries," Tsunade goes back to punching numbers and writing figures.

"So you had me walk in here to tell me that the firings are done?" Kakashi donned a confused look on his face, "I'm sorry but that just seems unnecessary."

"No. I simply answered your question, I didn't call you for that," she said with eyes not drawing away from her digits. "I called you…," she drifted off, completely distracted by the numbers flying through her head.

Kakashi waited in silence for a response that was lost in his boss' head. The idea of what she intended to say didn't kill him as much as the thought of spending another moment at work did. He let out a loud cough, trying to bring Tsunade back to the real world.

"To tell you," Tsunade continues to press numbers all the way through her dialogue, "That I'm making you the head of the department's detective branch."

"Oh," he responded with a tone that suggested disinterest, "Okay." He put his hands in his pockets, "If that's all ma'am, may I ask if I could leave now?"

The response stopped Tsunade on her tracks and forced her to look up to him. "I expected more of a celebration from you," she said bluntly with an air of curiosity.

"It's just that, aren't there more qualified men for the job?" Kakashi asks in humility.

"Don't you think we looked? You're the laziest detective we have in the district, you're constantly late, you leave early every time and you always forget to punch your time out on your DTR," Tsunade pointed out as though lecturing a teenage boy. "But no one in the district can get cases done better or faster than you. I have full faith that you can handle this," she said as she hunched back to her bookkeeping, "Now get out of here, I'm sure you have things to attend to."

It was already dark when Kakashi stepped out the station. The air felt damp, he figured it would rain soon and decided to get home as soon as he can. He jogged down to the nearest bus stop and waited as he usually did. He looked through his bag for an umbrella but to no avail, he almost always leaves it at home whenever he needed it. He sat there defeated, blurted a sigh and reached down his bag for the newspaper. Make-Out Paradise, he's already read today's column but reading it again couldn't hurt.

"I see you're still reading that tabloid," a familiar voice greeted him.

"It's a newspaper, Anko," Kakashi retorted, sporting an unenthusiastic face, getting him a condescending giggle in return.

"Not with an editorial named Make-Out Paradise it shouldn't be," the purple haired maiden drops her weight on the seat beside the man.

"So let me get this straight, I live next door to a journalist who talks trash about the newspaper she writes for?" his eyes not moving from his read.

"If you can call it news, stuff in that paper belongs in a dirty magazine," she complains. Anko worked as a journalist/writer for the local newspaper and she lived right next door to Kakashi in the tenement they live in. They'd share rides home every now and then on the bus where Anko gripes about her perverted boss' deprived column. She'd spend her time at work trying to keep the integrity of the paper together by typing out what she deemed as real news, her time away from work on the other hand are spent looking for more stories inside the city to add to her journals and to her work.

"Say what you want, this Jiraya guy knows what's what," he ever so casually answered.

"You're a hopeless pervert, you know that?!" she yells in disgust, standing up in outrage.

As Anko continued on her monologue about Kakashi's apparent sexual deprivation, Kakashi on the other hand drifted off into the paradise that Jiraya's writings constructed for him. With his face still holding a stoic aloof demeanor looking straight ahead, he kept on swimming in his thoughts. Try as he might he couldn't stop himself as he giggled albeit perversely.

"Are you even listening?!" Anko punched his arm, pulling him back to reality.

"Huh?" he asked in confusion.

"You really are hopeless," she groans in defeat as she dropped her head, sneaking another jab at Kakashi before she rested beside him.

Just as she does, the bus arrives; nearly empty as most people don't take the same route as they do. They take their usual seats behind the driver and settle in. Anko looked outside as the rain began to fall. She did so for a few more moments before absentmindedly saying, "I'm guessing you don't have an umbrella."

"Huh?" Kakashi snapped his head up from his paper. He checked if it was him the writer was speaking to and responded plainly as he continued reading, "No, I was hoping you brought yours."

"I did. I always bring mine." Anko never came across as an overly responsible girl to Kakashi. But she always seemed to have just what he needed. The purple haired writer glanced over to the masked man and as she saw him still glued to what he considered as literature, she couldn't help but feel annoyed. Something kept biting at the back of her mind. _"Does he really rather read that stupid thing than to try and hold a conversation with me?"_

It seemed so as the bus ride dragged on for 15 minutes not a word was spoken, not a thought exchanged. He read his paper and she stared out the window. It was usually like this when they'd share their bus rides. The bus stopped at their destination and they alighted from the vehicle, the rain still pounding on the walls of the nearby buildings. Anko unraveled her umbrella as she prepared to walk toward the tenement a couple of blocks away with Kakashi still busy reading for the _n_ th time. Looking back at him she decided to leave him at the bus stop. He seemed pretty content.

"Oi!" she hears calling to her as she was already a couple of steps away from the shelter of the bus stop.

"Yes?" she smiled as she turned to face the silver haired man waiting expectedly.

"You're not leaving me out here are you?" he asked nervously, knowing full well that she can if she chose to.

"Maybe you can leave the tabloid behind and I'll think about it," she teased.

Kakashi stood motionless with disbelief written in his eyes and agony written across his forehead.

"That or you could pull down that mask for me for a second," Anko smiled cheekily.

Without a second thought Kakashi made himself comfortable, sat down, flipped through the paper and gestured her to leave.

"You can't be serious, Kakashi."

"I'm not taking my mask off, Anko."

She rested one hand on her waist. "Well then I'm leaving," she bluffed.

"Good. Maybe then I could finish reading."

"Come on, Kakashi. Just leave the paper behind," Anko pleads in concern.

He closes his eyes in surrender. He noticed that the wind was picking up. Standing up and leaving the paper on the ground, he placed his hands in his pockets and waited for Anko to ferry him across the rain. Anko walked right up to him and playfully jabbed at his jaw. He smiled at his tomboyish friend as she pulled him by the arm under her umbrella. Just feeling his presence gave her a sense of comfort that she couldn't admit to herself and as much as he hates to confess their little bus rides are one of the few things he looks forward to everyday.

"People are jerks," Anko exhaled under her breath. They've started walking side by side under the rain. Seeing that there was nothing to distract her neighbor anymore, she decided to strike up a conversation.

"Hm?" he looks at her in curiosity, "What do you mean?"

"I mean I work for a perverted hermit, I pay rent to a self-entitled little snot that runs the tenement for his grandfather and I have to share daily bus rides with a disinterested tool that hides his face because it makes him look cool."

"You're not a picnic yourself. You don't think I wake up to you thrashing about your room early in the morning?"

"I'm just saying that you'd be lucky to find someone you like in this world," she grumbled.

"Even luckier if you find someone you like _**and**_ can stand you," he grinned and out of the corner of his eye he catches her looking down at her feet as they walked home.

"And if you get to spend every day with them then you'd really be lucky," she responded in a soft voice.

"I suppose you're right, what more could you ask for?" he turned his head to her, waiting for a response.

" _He's right. What more could I ask for?"_ she thought to herself. They stood still there in the middle of the rain under a cramped umbrella. He was still waiting for a reply. Every moment they stay out there rubbing shoulders was more than Kakashi could take. Every minute they spend standing still in the middle of the rain was another minute where he had to hold his breath. She stood so close that he refused to move, fearing he might break her; shatter her. She may have been easily the toughest girl he ever met but she also seemed so delicate in his eyes that he'd never, not for one moment, lay a finger on her. _"I guess I shouldn't be too greedy,"_ she reflected.

"None," ever so gently she leaned in to him, hoping that he wouldn't notice, "I couldn't ask for anything more."

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I wanted to turn this into a series, but with the lack of time in my hands I just can't commit to it. Sorry about that. R&R please.


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